I know to all you smart intelligent people out there, this is going to be a “no duh” situation. I like movies, I like to watch movies, I like to go to movies, they are a good pastime. Since manly man and I had kids our chances to go to movies were diminished greatly. We would rent when a movie we really wanted to watch comes out, and also we have Direc*tv. I dreamed of the time manly man and I could get back to place of going out to dinner and catch a movie. We have so many fond memories of doing that while dating.
Well unfortunately, I am going to have to find a new fun pastime. We had the chance to go out to dinner and see a movie last night. I am not going to tell you what new released movie we saw, but it really opened my eyes to the times. I felt like I needed a shower after watching this so called “comedy” it was so dirty, I was disgusted. Now I know I am going to get comments like “that is why we don’t go see movies, or our family doesn’t do that” and for that I applaud you but like I said, I personally like to watch me a good movie. What movies call funny, and what they show on the big screen is just down right disgusting. About half way through I pretty much kept my head down. I know you are going to ask, why didn’t I walk out? For that I have no answer, I should have. But let me tell you the minute I walked out I was praying and asking forgiveness and telling myself, I won’t be going to any more movies anytime soon unless I KNOW it is one I want to see, and I know what to expect.
I am so careful about what my kids watch, I research etc… but as an adult I did not. Well I am officially saying here publicly I have learned my lesson.
Phil 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
I like to check out “Rotten Tomatoes” because all (or at least it seems like all) the reviews are there and I don’t have to take one person’s word for the quality and content. Most new releases have their own websites too which give fairly decent insider information on content. Don’t give up on movies there are still good ones and the distributors need the feedback of ticket buyers to keep distributing them.
I’m so sorry for your disappointment. While we aren’t able to go to the movie as often as I’d like (with financial concerns, scheduling and then finding something worth seeing), I do so love to see a movie IN the theater. I use Preview (http://preview.gospelcom.net/index.html) movie reviews because it breaks down the elements and lets me decide which ones are acceptable. You can get mini reviews for free, or you can subscribe for a small annual amount to access their whole database (which comes in handy when renting videos).
Now that I’ve given you my 2 cents’ worth, I join you in grieving the loss of the Movie Date. Dinner somewhere halfway nice and holding hands in a romantic (not smutty) movie with my best guy is one of my fondest recollections of our courtship and early marriage.
Sorry you had such a bad experience. That is the good thing about watching movies at home. You can either fast forward the “scene” or just turn it off. We have done that before.
I have no idea what movie you mean because I have no idea what movies are out! Toddlers do that to ya!
Wow I love going to a good movie…. I guess I am getting more selective though as to the movies we go to….but I know what you mean…it’s hard to enjoy it when there is so much crap…literally on the movie screens.
I hope you are feeling better!
Blessings
Okay – I am not going to say it–really I am not.
We don’t go to the movies because we don’t feel comfy in sticky chairs and people bumping into our backs – so no more movie theaters for us. I wait until movies I want to see out on DVD.
I am sorry that you had such a bad time though. But I am sure you had a great time at the dinner.
Blessings to you and yours.
I’m afraid that if you used that verse there would be few acceptable movies.
If you used the 10 commandments as a guideline–we would not be seeing much of anything secular made.
I guess I figure that if Jesus had to die for something we should not be getting entertainment from it.
Now I know that is a pretty strong statement–but can you imagine Jesus sitting down in the evening with us and enjoying the things that are available for us to watch? Even just the commercials.
Everyone has to let the Holy Spirit draw the line for them–but I love the verse you quoted.
If we watched T.V based on those guide lines, I think most of us would save a little cable bill each month.
Thanks for the thoughts.
I love watching a good movie, too, though I haven’t been to a theater in years for a number of reasons. I’ve been appalled that some that sound so good from their commercials, when we look into them further or even wait to see them on TV (when you’d think the worst would be edited out) have such awful elements. I don’t know why movie makers feel they have to put that stuff in when the film would be plenty funny without it. It reminds me of that verse from Titus 1:15: “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” I’ve been amazed that even some of the late night TV comedians can take a phrase or a situation that’s perfectly innocent and turn into something tawdry.
LOL…sorry, but as I read this I could hear my uncles voice in my head asking me “what do you think will happen to you if Jesus returns and catchs you in a movie theatre?” There is legalism and fear and then there is grace and love…the latter brings to mind that while all things may be lawful now that we are under grace, not all things are good for us. Having said that, it was a movie (The Greatest Story Ever Told) that first introduced me (a child raised in an atheist home) to the possibility of Jesus…so I for one am a movie fan…who also has had to learn to be more discerning.
I also like to watch movies, but have not been to theater for so many years. Sometime I will also rent DVd back. I think there still have so many interesting&wonderful&meaningful films.
Im so sori you didnt have a good time at the movies
did you go out to dinner first? was that nice?
we personally cant afford to go to the movies anymore
Oh, I understand this one! I don’t even go anymore. Even if we could afford to, or found someone to watch the kids, or I could keep my eyes open past 9. Still.
We just watched “Facing the Giants” on DVD. I adored it.
I hate that feeling. One of our freedoms in Christ is the ability to make decisions and choose what is right–including which movies are good and which are not–and, what is good for me may not be good for you or for someone else. Praise the Lord we are free and He forgives when we make a mistake. There are several good sites out there to research movies which we use–Rotten Tomatoes is the only one off the top of my head. We actually started watching anime because there were so many more decent themes and that cartoon animation of things were less offensive than live action. You still have to be careful and we research before we watch (in fact–hubby usually checks it out first because there are things that do not bother him that I cannot tolerate). On the other hand you could say the same things about the news and it amazes me that some who would refuse to watch something in a movie will eat up all the news articles on the same subject. It is between each of us and God and only He knows what is best for each of us. (as for live saction movies–I find that sticking with ones based on books I have read is usually the best policy–especially since I only read children’s books.
-_Chalotte’s Web was really good, and the last live action movie I saw.)
I highly recommend Netflix. For $20 a month, Rob and I get about 12 movies.
I’m going out on a limb and guessing you saw Knocked Up. Just the title itself is a warning. After reading the review in People this week, I suspect this “comedy” could venture out into the darkness.
We NEVER go to movies. I can buy a week’s worth of groceries for what one trip to the movies costs these days. And I can keep myself in popcorn, here at home, for six months on what one bag costs at the theater.
I know how you feel:-( and it creates tension between our kids and their friends when we say “no” to certain movies, and their Christian friends go anyway…
We rely on http://www.pluggedinonline.com/ for our movie news and reviews…maybe this will help.
Also, FoxFaithFilms is putting out new Christian movies every other month to the theaters…check out Fandango, or go to the Fox Faith website…
Hey there,
We’ve done this, too. And now that our kids are getting older, we are working toward letting them have more input into those decisions (having them check the Christian reviews and tell me what they think, then we make a decision together), too. One movie in particular I let them see was less than edifying, but it brought up some of the best conversations about “why we don’t go to movies like that” than any of my standing there barricading them out of the show ever could have. Always a balance, isn’t it? Whew, this is exhausting!
I know what you mean. CBN has movie reviews on their web site, but sometimes I too do not take the time to check things out. Join the rest of us.
One of the biggest mistakes we made was when we picked up a few videos at the library which were not rated from the 70′s…oops, some of them are worse than what is out if you can believe that.
I can identify with you Laurel. It happened to me a couple of years ago. I love the movies. I even used to go alone if noone else was interested. I love sitting in the darkened theater and traveling to other places and meeting new characters. But the movie I was watching was not what I had expected. I found myself thinking, “I brought Jesus in here with me.” That pretty well fixed it.
I found that Focus on the Family website has a great movie review section “Plugged In”. They tell you absolutely everything about the movie (language, spiritual content, etc). I find I can really rely on them. When they say it’s good, I go. It doesn’t happen often, but I’m glad I can still go to a good movie once in a while.
Sorry you had a bad experience. I see by the comments that people gave you some good “review sites” to check out. I do it for the kids, but I never thought of doing if for myself. Lesson learned there. Hubby and I don’t go to movies anymore because with the kids we just don’t have the time or money. But if we ever get a chance to, I’ll check it out first due to your experience. Someone commented about Jesus coming into a movie theater. I forgot about that lesson from Catholic school. Good lesson to keep in mind in everything in my life. Wonder what he’d think about the book I’m reading? Hmmmm….
Also check out:http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/ for reviews.
Do you ever go to Focus on the Family’s site Plugged In? Excellent and exhaustive review from a Christian view. Family.org is the main site. xoxo melzie
We had this exact same experience last Friday night with a movie we rented. Rated PG-13… I was wondering why it didn’t get R or X. It was just too hard to overlook all the “dirt” in the movie to see a somewhat nice romance. I hear ya girl!! Blessings, Diane
I know what you mean. I love to go see movies too. LOVE it. But we haven’t been mainly because we never have a sitter.
But also because the last one we saw was pretty bad too. But hey, some shows on prime time TV are equally, if not more, disgusting! It’s like you can’t get away from it!
I can SO relate. We absolutely love movies, and some of the movies these days that pass for PG-13 are just disturbing. Garbage in, garbage out. We rented 40 year old version and I don’t know if it was accidentally the uncensored version or WHAT, but the first ten minutes were so disgusting I decided to stop watching. I try not to be super controlling with my husband, so I didn’t discourage him from watching it. He watched most of it before turning it off and then felt really mad at himself about watching it. Kind of like you felt, when you didn’t walk out of the movie, but wished you’d had.
Sometimes learning a lesson is uncomfortable, but at least none of us will make that mistake again. We are more careful to guard our hearts/minds now, when we choose movies.
I usually try to get movie recommendations before I see anything anymore.
Also, I love what Sharon had to say about this subject. I’d never thought about it that way before.
But if it is wrong or a sin in real life, why do we think it’s appropriate as entertainment?
I am SO that way now. It’s impossible to enjoy a movie.
We too rarely go to the movies and when we do, we generally check it out with pluggedinonline.com or christianitytoday.com/movies first. Just so we know what we may be getting in to. You are so right, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to make entertainment choices that honor God.
This is a problem for us too. My husband has always loved going to the movies, but we have been disappointed so many times that we rarely go any more, other than movies we could safely take our grandbabies to see. Fun….but not the same as a dinner and a movie date
Girlfriend,
Right there with ya!!!
Laurel, I think we saw the same movie last night.
ACK. So not my cup of tea.